Jacob Rees-Mogg has become the perfect politician for our confused times | Nesrine Malik

His views seem to have no place in the modern world – but amid the Brexit chaos, his calm, dignity and conviction set him above the fray

It has happened: Jacob Rees-Mogg has gone from being a joke to a serious contender for a senior role within the Tory cabinet. At the weekend it was whispered that a “dream team” (few quote marks have done heavier lifting) of Boris Johnson, Michael Gove and Rees-Mogg would be fielded by Eurosceptics against Theresa May if her stance on the customs union were to soften.

In this first iteration, Rees-Mogg would be chancellor, but talk of him becoming prime minister is no longer seen as farcical. We conjured him into being by laughing at him. It’s like a spell gone wrong. In the search for an alternative to a paralysed prime minister, for someone who could guide the country through its most challenging negotiations since the second world war, we have somehow veered towards a person whose views are preserved in prehistoric amber.

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from The Guardian http://ift.tt/2FSYoSc